Winner and runners-up of our “Business Card Fit for the King” contest

With the launch of our Dutch language site, and the inauguration of King Willem-Alexander (the Netherlands’ first King in over a century!), we thought it’d be a great opportunity to have our community design a business card fit for the King.

We received almost 1,000 designs and were ecstatic to see so many great business cards bring Dutch elements to life — this made picking the winner not an easy feat. The Netherlands, an extremely flat country of 16 million residents next to the North Sea, had a wonderful time in the spotlight, so thanks to everyone who participated! And, of course, a big old “dank jullie wel” to the Dutchies out there.

Check out the winning design, and runners-up, below.

Winning design

We love the simplicity of this design! The font is sleek, yet powerful and elements like the crown and the full stop take this design to the next level. We’re convinced the King wouldn’t mind handing out these “Hallo’s” (Dutch for Hello) during the coming years of royal interactions.

This business card contains several layers: the crown is created from common Dutch elements (tulips, mills, clogs), elements that are meaningful to Willem-Alexander (ice skates, the ‘W’, the crown) and some less obvious Dutch elements (fish, water, fisherman’s boat). It comes in red, white, blue and orange.

benling created a timeline of Willem-Alexander’s personal interests, using elements from water management, renewable energy and his favorite hobby ice skating — all leading up to the crown. As benling stated, “It is all about the King’s life; which will never be the same again.”

LuiG illustrated a map pointing out Noordeinde, the King’s “working palace”, in a Mondriaan style. When the Queen announced her abdication she said: “Responsibility for our country must now lie in the hands of a new generation.” This business card shaped like an iPhone definitely took that notion to heart.